Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Today in Elvis History...April 23,1956

Elvis would open at the New Frontier Hotel in Las Vegas. He would perform two shows a night. Elvis was billed as the'Atomic Powered Singer' . Elvis was pretty much a flop. His teenage fans could not get in to see him and the older audience did not get into the act. The Colonel had a Saturday show for the kids and it was packed and loud like the usual Presley concerts. Elvis bombed for the first time since hitting the big time and he was upset. This was a very important trip though. Elvis would fall in love with the city. He caught as many acts as he could while there. He went to see Freddie Bell and The Bell Boys. He would hear them sing Hound Dog. They sang it in a different way then Big Mama and with different lyrics. Elvis and the boys loved the song and decided to use it as a show closer. It would go on to be one of his biggest hits ever.Some of the performances from the gig can be found on disc five of the 50's masters set. It is pretty interesting to hear.